Uiagalelei confident in his preparation as Tigers take on Bulldogs

Uiagalelei is confident in his preparation.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Wed Sep 01 12:30:15 GMT-04:00 2021

CLEMSON – DJ Uiagalelei knows the Georgia defense will present a strong challenge Saturday night in Charlotte, but he also knows he will be fully prepared when he steps on the field at Bank of America Stadium.

Uiagalelei will make the third start of his college career Saturday when the Tigers take on the Bulldogs as part of the Duke's Mayo Classic, and Uiagalelei doesn’t feel like he will be overwhelmed or things will be too different from his starts last season against Boston College and Notre Dame.

"I think the only reason why I might feel a little different is that it's game one,” Uiagalelei said this week. “I feel like that's the only thing that's different. Last year we knew we had Trevor-- Trevor's going to start game one. I think knowing now that I will be the starter for game one, that's about the only thing that's different."

He is, however, excited to finally play in front of a big crowd.

"I think it's gonna be amazing. I think South Bend, I don't know how many people were there-- I think there's only maybe 25,000. I mean, it felt like a lot,” Uiagalelei said. “They had like music pumping in-- so it was super cool. I'm super excited about going to Charlotte. I don't know how many people they hold in Charlotte, but I know it's gonna be a packed stadium. It's going to be my first time playing in a packed stadium, so it's gonna be a real cool experience. I'm really excited about it."

Georgia’s defense is packed with elite-level talent, but Uiagalelei knows the key will be his preparation and film study, something he learned at an early age.

“My first offensive coordinator of Bosco, Chad Johnson, he was always telling me about preparation and film study. And then you kind of watch documentaries and you see all of the quarterbacks talking about film study, film study,” he said. “And then I got to talk to a lot of different quarterbacks at a young age, and the things they said separated them from the rest of the pack are film study and defensive recognition and just knowing every time you step on the field you know exactly what the defense is doing. You look at the defense and know exactly what the coverage is, where the blitz is coming from, and those little tendencies that make the game a lot easier.”

Uiagalelei has also worked hard on refining the parts of his game that he felt needed work.

"I think just consistency with reads, attention to details, stuff like that. Just making the right decision, every single play, to be able to put the offense in the right position,” he said. “Make sure I'm doing my job, the correct way every single play. I think that's what they're talking about. Just making sure my footwork is correct-- whatever type of drop I need to take. Whatever type of mesh I need to take-- that everything's it's all fluid and I have to really think about it-- and that I'm really consistent with it."

As a result, he thinks this offense has a chance to be the best in the country.

“I’m very confident in this offense and I think everyone on the offense is too,” Uiagalelei said. “Coach Elliott says that every day that our goal is that we want to be able to be the best offense in the country and I feel like every day we’re at practice that we’re working towards that goal. So I think we’re all super confident in the offense. (We know) who we lost and we just know we have a lot of guys that are gonna be able to step up this year and be ready to play.”

As for Georgia, Uiagalelei knows what it will take to win.

"I would say the biggest challenge for us as an offense is playing our game,” he said. “Georgia has an amazing defense. I know we talk about every single week that we don't want to beat ourselves. We are preparing for Clemson and want to play our game."